June 2013: Innovative Approaches to Sustainability at Other Campuses

Here are a few selections of the innovative approaches to sustainability taking place on other college campuses. Each of these examples was chosen because they represent ideas that UCSC could potentially implement in some form, or in some cases, already has begun to. If you see something here that you want to make a reality at UCSC, contact the Sustainability Office and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition!

College Divestment Campaigns Sweep U.S. Universities
At about 300 colleges across the country, young activists worried about climate change are calling for divestment from fossil fuels. So far only a few small colleges have opted to drop investments in fossil fuel companies, but many campaigns are currently active, from Rhode Island to North Carolina to the Bay Area.

UC Davis Student Union Building Features Exhibit on Water and Sustainability
The Sustainability Showcase has opened its second exhibit for viewing on the first floor of the Memorial Union. The theme of the exhibit is Water: Fact or Fashion and features disposable water bottles and issues surrounding water quality and use. It aims to focus attention on related safety and equity issues on a global scale, as well as issues that hit closer to home, such as the Central Valley, where tap water is unsafe due to high concentrations of nitrates from agriculture.

UCSD Campus Rooftops Serve as Launch Pads for Sustainability Efforts
By the end of 2013, 34 structures on UC San Diego’s campus and its affiliated sites will be equipped with solar photovoltaic panels. Recently, the university also unveiled a vegetative roof, atop Revelle College’s LEED Platinum-certified Charles David Keeling apartments. In addition, more than a dozen wireless sensors that determine the optimal times to gain and expend energy are now poised on UC San Diego rooftops. Solar hot water heating and water collection systems are located above some of the very buildings where UC San Diego students live and learn about climate change and ways to conserve, reuse and recycle.